Dreams Within The Heart
by SniperWolf61
Summary: This is my own OC version of KH: DDD I was inspired by Songbird Rebel's version of DDD adding her OC Nyra in the story. Here we follow Riku's Brother Arun, who is a few months younger then him. The story will follow Arun's perspective in later chapters, and will be rated T in later chapters.
1. Prologue

In the Laboratory underneath the castle in Radiant Garden, that had several machines and plasma screens. Two of Ansem the Wise's Apprentices Ienzo and Even laid unconscious, caused by Xehanort's attack on them. While Braig, one of Ansem's apprentices was facing him said to him.

"Xehanort! You wanna fill me in!"

The former apprentice of Ansem lifted his hand and summoned his Keyblade.

"I am..." He started to say.

"Hey! Do you remember now or? Wait, did you never lose your memory?" Braig asked.

Xehanort swiftly charged at Braig and impaled the blade into his chest. "That's not my name. I'm not "Xehanort." " Braig's eyes shook with shock, as his body fell to the floor with a loud exhale. A bright sphere emerged from Braig's chest. "My name is... is Ansem."

On the islands of Destiny within a big ocean, three boys stood on the sand and stared at the sea. One had spiky brown hair with dark ocean eyes, the other two boys we're twin siblings of opposite colour of hair and different eye colour. The oldest had longer spiky silver hair with aquamarine eyes, the younger brother's attire consisted of a red and white tank top with white trimmed, black straps crossing his chest and upper back with black on each end. He sported a pair of dark gray-trimmed, white gloves with matching wristbands, dark red pants with brighter red pant legs connected with black-studded suspenders and are hooked on with small white straps on his ankles. On his hip, he wears a white belt with a gold rectangular. His footwear consisted of the same type of shoes as his brother, as well as the same colour. His hair was the colour of night black that reached his forehead, with visible silver white parts located on the bangs. His eyes had Amber in the iris. These three were Sora, Riku and Arun.

"But how far would a raft take us?" Sora asked.

"Who knows? If we have to, we'il think of something else." Riku replied.

"And if that happens, we'il do it together," Arun said.

Later, the trio sailed on their raft into stormy waters.

"Riku, a storm's coming," Sora said kneeling and looking at the water.

"I know. The waves are getting steep. Furl the sails." Riku ordered.

"Right." Sora nodded. Suddenly, large came out of the water and rammed the mass clean off. Sora and Arun looked up and saw Riku in the water, holding on to the mast.

"Riku!" They both said in unison.

"I'm fine!" He assured his best and brother.

"No, you're not!" Arun began to cast a Magnet spell to pull his brother to the raft. Suddenly, the waters started to stir, thunder flashed, and a figure rose out of the whirlpool which interrupted Arun's spell.

"What's that?" Sora said as a giant Cecelia turned to face him with Sora recognizing the figure as Ursula.

"Oh, he was right. Those wretched guppies are here. Well, it's about time we settle the score." The Sea Witch decided.

"Ursula? But how- Is this a part of the test?" Sora asked.

"Come on! We can we work this out later!" Riku yelled.

"Alright!" Sora agreed. Ursula noticed Riku standing on top of the floating raft.

"Sorry, dearies, but I won't fall for that trick!" Ursula yelled. Slamming her tentacle into the water and Riku using this as a chance to jump back to the raft.

"You dare toy with me! You insignificant fools! To the depths with you!" Sending large bubbles against the trio, but Arun used a Blizzaga spell to freeze the bubbles turning them into ice crystals before sending them back with an Aero spell.

Ursula began to send three bolts of thunder to attack the group but dodged this swift attack.

When the raft got closer to Ursula's face, the group started a barrage of swift attacks, finally defeating Ursula causing her to fade away.

The waves started to get rougher, forcing the raft at a rapid speed sending them under water. As the storm got worse with thunder and lightning striking above, Sora, Riku and Arun dropped down through the water. A Keyhole appeared with their Keyblades, Sora's Kingdom Key and Arun and Riku's Way to Dawn appeared in their hands. Almost like a mind of their own, they aimed they Keyblades and shot three beams of light towards it, engulfing them in the process. Before entering the Sleeping Realm, Arun saw a man wearing a brown cloak bearing crossed symbol across his chest starred at the water. Before he heard the man say something.

"This world has been connected."

The wizard Yen Sid addressed Sora, Riku and Arun in his Mysterious Tower, having summoned them for a reason. King Mickey, Donald and Goofy stood beside his chair.

"As a Keyblade Master, Xehanort had a gift like few others. But such great minds are plagued by a single question. What is the essence of the human heart that weakens us, or empowers us? The answer, he believed, would be found in the "Keyblade War." What if the challenges of the past were, in fact, a map to the light and darkness that battles within us all? Xehanort had to know, so he renounced his duties as master and choose a seekers life. Since then, in many a guise, he has clashed with protectors of light-Keyblade wielders like yourselves. And mark my words-he will trouble us again. We must be ready. Which is why you, Sora, Riku and Arun, are to be tested for the mark of a true Keyblade Master. No doubt, you fancy yourselves, masters, already, but it takes years of training. Only a true master can teach you the proper way. Three of you are self-taught Keyblade wielders-an impressive feat. However, the time has come for you let go of preconceived notions, forget what you know about the Keyblade, and began your training with a clean slate." Yen Sid declared.

"Huh?!" Sora, Donald, Goofy and Mickey exclaimed in surprise.

"But that's a formality, right? I already proved myself. Me and the king, Riku and Arun we can take on anything. Right, Riku?" Sora asked.

"I don't know" Riku replied, summoning the old weapon that was used by him and his younger brother in the form a dual wield style. "I think in my heart, darkness still has a hold." He dispelled the blade. "Walking that path changed me. I'm not sure if I'm ready to wield the Keyblade. Maybe I do need to be tested.

"Riku..." Sora said in concern. Sora then turned back to Yen Sid. "Then count me in. Put me in the test! Just watch me, Riku and Arun will pass with flying colours!" He put his hands behind his back in a confident pose, while Mickey, Donald and Goofy exchanged looks.

"Very well, then. Sora, Riku and Arun, let your examination begin." Yen Sid, nodding.

 **So, I did another story DDD story, because it didn't go well and was criticized for complex sentences and for using that was not allowed by Mysterious Prophetess. Because of that I decide to write another DDD story with my own content. However, you are not allowed to criticize my story or you will be blocked. The criticism I took from McKenzie Rush, caused me to suffer a writer's block for a year making me unable to update my stories. So I will not allow Grammar Nazis and Critics to force into Writer's block because what they want. To see someone unable to write, just so they can mock all of us.**

 **Authors Note: All content relating to Kingdom Hearts except OC belong to Square Enix or Disney.**

 **Also, if you want to know who Arun is, he is the twin brother of Riku and wears the same type of clothes as his brothers, except there different colors. Arun also wields Way to Dawn except it has a different Keychain. If you wanna know what the keychain looks, here's the link:** rubypearl31/art/KHX-symbol-render-525627342

 **Make sure to fav and review and no negative reviews!**


	2. Traverse Town (First Visit)

Arun's POV: I opened my eyes to see that I was in Traverse Town in the Second District! But that's not my outfit had changed I was wearing a white, black trimmed zip-up vest with black lining on the side with a black high neckband. The back of the vest also held the Twin Eagle of Equilibrium, but in the middle of was a strange sunset pink and night black heart-shaped symbol, the symbol diverged into two, the pink on the left and the black on the right. I also wore a pair of white wristbands, white-blue pants with a black belt with a silver buckle, and white shoes with black laces and a yellow lining on the bottom just above the black soles.

"Why am I in Traverse Town?" I said. "My clothes have changed also. Looks like I'm in the Second District, Sora or Riku maybe in the other districts. I should find them in each one.

I began my search in the First District, looking everywhere for my best friend and big brother but they were nowhere the seen or found. So I turned my search to the Third District, where I saw my brother appearing out of nowhere, he started to check his clothes I guess he just realized his outfit changed, what he doesn't know is that we're both wearing the same outfit.

"Riku!" I yelled at him.

He heard me calling out to him, he turned his head to where my voice was and saw me.

"Arun!" He called out to me. I ran down to him and hugged him tightly.

"I was so worried about you! I thought you might have gotten hurt!" Arun murmured.

"I'm alright Arun, that's all that matters," Riku said comfortingly me.

I saw that Riku was wearing the same type of clothes I wore and I broke up the hug.

"Wait for a second? Why are you wearing the same type I'm wearing? I exclaimed.

"I don't know! I just woke up like this after the storm sent us underwater. Beside Arun, we both wore the same type of outfit back on the Islands. Didn't you forget?" My brother explained.

"Oh yeah, I might have a bit. We almost drowned underwater, so this is one of the worlds in the Sleeping, I didn't expect it to be Traverse Town. We opened a Keyhole, didn't we?

"We did. Our Keyblade it just sort of... popped right into our hand when we needed it most."

"Wow! Where're your portals?" A voice said behind us, we turned around to see who it was. It was a blonde long haired boy wearing a white shirt, blue pants and white shoes were sitting on the arch above the fountain in the corner of the square. "It something special to jump between grounds without." The boy said to us.

"Who are you?" Riku asked him.

"My name is Joshua." The boy replied.

"And what do you mean, "Portal? I asked him.

"Are we just skipping the part where you both tell me your names?" Joshua asked.

"Riku" My brother had told him, he started to get impatient with him.

"Arun," I replied to Joshua.

"Hello there, Riku, Arun. It's been a long time since I saw a pair of twin siblings." Joshua chuckled. I was surprised that Joshua knew that I and Riku were twin brothers, which made more careful cautious of Joshua. "Portals are like gateways that link up our worlds. Apparently, the world you and I stand in right now-well, there are two copies of it. It's been sort of split in half. Portals are what let folks like us cross between them."

"There can be two of a world?" Riku asked him.

"The world is as many things as people need it to be. The concept that we all live in the same world is just in our heads. Surely one of you knew? I'll tell you what, you two. I've gotta little errand for both of you.

"Sorry. We don't trust you." Riku stated.

"Aw, at least hear me out! I'm looking for a girl named Rhyme. She's the key to the portal. And on the other side, who knows who we'll find? Maybe even your friend...Sora." Joshua explained to us.

"You know Sora?" Riku asked in surprise. I was much as surprised as he was.

"Tell us where he is!" I said to Joshua, but he just laughed thinking it was funny.

"Now I have your attention," Joshua said, dropping down to the floor. "But, unfortunately, I don't know where he is. If not in this version of this world, I can assume he has to be in the other one. Simple logic."

"Okay, you wanna find Rhyme? You got it. Let's go." Riku said.

"Joshua, why don't they ever attack you?" I asked as we arrived in the Second District.

"They being Dreams Eaters? They won't go after you unless you're a dreamer. Which is funny, because I've got plenty of dreams." Joshua replied.

"But they're definitely attacking us...So...you think we're dreamers?" Riku asked.

"Every human being is a dreamer. I had a friend once who said he never dreamed of anything, but it turned out that he were the most powerful dreams of all. You sorta remind me of him. Why don't we give your dream shape? In this world, they take on the form as Dream Eaters, which can become great allies." Joshua explained.

I and Riku acquired two Dream Eaters: A Komory Bat for him and an Eaglider for myself.

"I gotcha now, Joshua!" A tough looking boy wearing a black skull hat, white tank top, tan pants and red sneakers ran along the pathway in front of the hotel. He stopped in from us and put his foot on the railing and began to point at his chest, he basically ready and prepared for a fight against Joshua. "Once I take you down, yo, I and Rhyme are goin' back where we belong!"

"Beat. How many times do we have to go after this? You've tricked by that rogue in the black coat." Joshua said.

"What? Black coats? But that's..." Riku trailed off.

"That's impossible, every member of the Organization is gone for good. Maybe it's someone else in a black coat." I replied to my brother. He nodded to me in agreement.

"I'm telling you you've made a friend of our enemy. " Joshua said.

"Just can it, alright? Your inverse psychiatry ain't gonna work! Let's go, Dream Eaters!" The guy had a Kooma Panda who began happily walking towards our Dream Eaters. "What, man not cool!" Joshua started laughing.

Nightmare Dream Eaters started to appear, but we managed to fight them off.

"You know what! Forget it." Beat sighed out angrily, as he sat on the railing in defeat. "This is stale, yo."

"Playing tough guy 24/7 I'd be worn out too," Joshua said.

'I just...wanna protect the one person that matters." Beat said.

"I know that feeling," Riku said. Suddenly we were overwhelmed by mysterious sleeping, which caused us to lose balance. "Why am I so sleepy?" Riku said. "This is not a coincidence," I said before our balance began to falter and we blacked out.

* * *

We woke up moments later to see that Joshua and Beat had already left.

"What happened? Did we fall asleep?" Riku asked. We stood and walked up. "Where are Joshua and Beat?"

"They must have chased after each other after we fell asleep," I replied.

"Hey, do you mind?" Someone asked. We turned around to see who it was, it was a girl trying to get away from the Nightmare Dream Eaters. We decided to follow the girl and try to save her from the Nightmares. We found the girl, who became surrounded by two Nightmare Meow Wow Dream Eaters. The girl had dark pink hair that was covered by a newsboy cap, the clothes she wore looked like they were handmade it consisted of a red shorted sleeved shirt, a short yellow hooded vest, a low-cut green coloured denim skirt with a brown pouch around her waist, and knee-length brown medium heeled boots with yellow stripes on both sides.

We summoned our Keyblades to protect the girl.

"Stay back," Riku said.

We took out all of the Dream Eaters and faced the girl who had a black cat doll with her arms.

"Seriously, thanks. I'm Shiki, how 'bout you two?" She asked.

"Riku." My brother replied.

"Arun," I replied to her.

"Thanks, Riku, Arun," Shiki said.

"Sure," Riku said. "Take care, find someplace safe." I also said before we started to leave.

"Hey! That's it? That's You chat up a girl and then just say "Sure" and "Take care" and walk up? Shiki asked.

"I'm bad at this. Sorry. Look, it's not safe. You should go home." Riku said.

"If it's dangerous, how can you two leave me here? But I can't really. Aren't you two my knights in shining armour? Well?" Shiki asked as she played around with her doll, and sort of winked at us.

"Kn-Knight? You've got the wrong idea." Riku replied.

"I don't wanna be your boyfriend! We just meet!" I also replied to her.

"Oh my gosh, I was so just kidding. You two get out much?" Shiki asked. I was so embarrassed for asking us that question, my cheeks started to blush red. I think she noticed me. "You remind me of a guy I know. And besides, I already have a boyfriend. Well, good thing we meet." I was lucky that she already had a boyfriend and not single, imaging me dating her we just met!

We walked to the Fifth District, which was new to me since no one told me there were two more districts. The district had an indoor three-story greenhouse, with a bridge that leads to the entrance.

"Over there," Shiki said. She began running off to the staircase, I think she saw someone or something.

"Hey! We should stick together!" Riku yelled.

"Shiki! Don't run off without us!" I yelled out to her, hoping she would hear me. I heard her cried out in alarm.

"Perfect." Riku and I said in unison. We started to run to the corner of the staircase.

"You can't expect us to-" My brother couldn't finish his sentence as we saw a black-cloaked figure, with Shiki's doll at his feet.

"Shiki! No way..." Riku mumbled. The figure stepped on the doll and kicked it at Riku.

"How did you two get here?" The figure asked.

"Who are you ?" Riku asked.

"And where's Shiki?!" I yelled at the figure, demanding her location.

"By choice or chance? Both of you cannot control what you're aware of." The figure started to walk towards us, we slowly started walked back down the stairs.

"This wakeless sleep will be your prison...to wander forever." The figure said. As we reached the edge of the path, we became confused by the black hooded figure cryptic speeches.

"What do you mean?" Riku asked.

"I don't understand, what you're saying," I asked.

"Riku, Arun, don't you listen to that punk!" Beat yelled. "Shiki's gonna be fine! She told me whassup. Hoodie here set this whole thing up, yo. He promised to send Shiki back to our world, and you both were the cost of the travel. Yo, this is seriously one-half baked excused for a mission. Betcha ain't a Reaper." The figure took off his hood revealing a young man in his twenty, with silver hair and golden eyes.

"All right. Who are you?" Riku asked.

The man didn't respond back to Riku's question but waved his arms which summoned a large Dream Eater that flew into the Greenhouse. The young man escaped through a Corridor of Darkness.

"Wait!" Riku yelled.

"I'm really sorry, Riku, Arun," Shiki said. Riku tossed her doll back to her.

"It's alright. Beat, watch her." Riku said.

"I got this, yo!" Beat said. Riku turned his attention to me.

"You ready for this, little brother?" Riku asked me.

"Absolutely! And here I thought we wouldn't get a proper welcome in the Sleeping Realm!" I eagerly said. Summoning my Keyblade as we entered the Building.

The Giant NIghtmare Dream Eater called "Honkomonkey" began sending large fireballs however we dodged these firey attacks and had switched into four disembodied claws while it's asleep, even though the claws targeted at us. We managed to defeat it's gloved claws waking up the monkey Dream Eater, with a couple of slashes we defeated the Dream Eater.

* * *

We joined Shiki and Beat outside the garden, where we saw six glowing images of Neku, Joshua, Rhyme and Sora with a boy and a girl. The girl we did not recognize, the other I did not know about.

"Hey, what is this?" Shiki asked. Riku and I walked up to the projection of Sora, while I looked at the other two I presume the boy to be Shiki's boyfriend, however, the girl beside him was a complete mystery to me.

The girl had the same colour of brown like Sora, she wore the same red and black hoodie, the same black gloves and black and white shirt with white straps crossing into an X as Sora adding the Twin Eagles in the middle. Except she wore a red and black skirt with one white strip on the bottom and red and black shorts underneath, on her feet were yellow running shoes which reminded me of Sora's big shoes. Are his feet even that big enough to fit his shoes? They look way too big for his size!

The boy looked like he was a young mercenary he had dark red hair with a blue jacket, long sleeve shirt, combat pants and black boots.

"What are we...seeing?" He moved his hand through the projection of Sora.

"This is so messed up, man!" Beat yelled. Beat kneeled down to Rhyme's level. "She's right here in front of me and...I can't reach her!" He tried to grab Rhyme, but his hand went through the projection.

"If your hearts are connected, you'll reach her," Riku said.

"Rhyme..." Beat mumbled.

"Neku...Micheal..." Shiki mumbled.

"Sora..." We mumbled.

In a blinding flash of light, Sora Erna and Riku Arun stood alone with Joshua, each in their own version of Traverse Town.

"In their world, something happened that brought their existence to an end. To keep them from fading altogether, I gathered up the very last remnants of their dreams and looked for a place to give them refuge. It was then this world appeared to answer my call, and Rhyme's dreams allowed us to reach it. Here, I thought they might have a chance that the pieces of their dreams could make them whole again. Imagine my surprise when I realized dreams take bodily form in this world. It struck me by linking their dream pieces back together, maybe I could make them exist again. Maybe I could give them another chance." Joshua explained.

"It can't be that simple," Riku said.

"Nothing in life is simple," I replied.

"Well, why can't it? By ourselves, we're no one. It's when other people look at us and see someone that's the moment we each start to exist. All they needed was for someone to see them, connect with them. And the four of you were a big part of making it happen." Joshua said.

"Joshua, just... who are you?" We all asked in unison.

"Let's just say...a friend." He replied to us. 2 large white angel wings sprouted from his back as he towards the night sky.

A Keyhole appeared in front of the greenhouse in front of us, we nodded to each other and began to seal the Keyhole covering us in a golden light.

 **So that another chapter is done! If some of you are confused with the lore of my franchise, no long before the events of Back Cover. An ancient organization called the Order of Equilibrium was created to preserve the balance of the universe, in other words, the balance of Light and Darkness. The Order later became a military organization called the Settlement Union Alliance, the Settlement Union is equipped with military-grade weaponry, tanks, IFV/APC's, Helicopters, Fighter/Attack Jets and Modified Gummi Ships that run on light and acts as the Navy of the Union. If you wanna know about the Original Characters introduced in this chapter here it is.**

 **-Matteo Cruz Reyes: A young Settlement Navy recruit and Shiki's boyfriend.**

 **-Erna Fulgur: A young Keyblade Wielder who accompanies Sora during his Mark of Mastery Exam.**

 **Also, characters mentioned will be introduced in later stories and Arun's backstory and how he got the Keyblade will be revealed in the BBS story. Make sure to fav and make sure to review!**


	3. La Cité des Cloches

We entered a world with a large bell tower. In the square of the cathedral, a tall man in gold armour chased down a dark-haired woman in a violet dress.

"Stop her!" The man said. The woman reached impassable festival tents, she turns and bows to him, disappearing into a puff of pink smoke as a magician does. We walked into the area, where the woman runs by him. We stop as watched her escape.

"You two! Have you seen a Gypsy woman?" The man asked us.

"Sorry. We haven't seen one." I replied.

"Nope. Sorry." Riku also replied.

"All right. Thanks." The man said to us.

The man walks over to an elderly man with strong features. He was dressed in a long black robe with a red sash hanging from his triangular hat.

"I'm terribly sorry, sir. We've lost her." The man said.

"Slippery vermin!" He turned to the man. "I'm beginning to question having summoned you back from the wars, Captain Phoebus." Phoebus that was the man's name, which was a coincidence since our names meant sun.

We continued our search for the Keyhole as we saw the same woman who was being chased by Phoebus, stepped out of hiding with a smile.

"Thank you. You two stood up for me. I'm Esmerelda." The woman said to us.

"Riku. This my brother Arun. And it's not like we know what a "gypsy" is. Why are they chasing you?" Riku introduced us both.

"Judge Frollo has been hunting us for years. We gypsies are guilty of nothing but loving our freedom, yet Frollo hates whatever he can't control. Now he's even brought in fresh blood to torment us." She sighed. "I'd hate to know what darkness drives that man."

"We can think to imagine..." Riku mumbled. I nodded. "Tell me more. Was he always like this?"

"I don't give Frollo much thought. But if you'd like, you could try Notre Dame. They say it's a place for answers." She suggested.

We looked over to the cathedral and exchanged looks at each other, nodding to each other.

* * *

We entered through the massive double doors, making our way across the tiled floor. The church is silent and still with stained glass and tall candle holders.

"Is there anyone here?" I asked.

"Who are you two?" We saw a man dressed in green clothing in the dark glow of the room. He walked closer we noticed he had a hunchback and a disfigured face.

"I'm Arun. This is Riku." I replied.

"Oh. M-my name's Quasimodo. I'm very sorry, but the Archdeacon is away." He said, shyly turns in the direction of the tower stairs.

"Actually, we're looking for a man named Frollo. Do you know where he is?" Riku asked. At the mention of the name, Quasimodo turns back to face him.

"My master? He said he had business on the outskirts of the city." Quasimodo said.

"Do you mean you know him?" Riku asked.

"Oh, yes. He's…he's very kind. Master Frollo saved my life. He protects me from the outside world." Quasimodo explained.

"He "protects" you from it?" Riku asked, Riku and I glanced at glanced each other for a second. Quasimodo looks down at his hands and covers his face.

"The people out there would be cruel to me. I'm a monster, you know." Quasimodo said.

"Is that what Frollo told you? Trust me, looks can be deceiving. A good friend sees you for who you are, no matter what face you wear." Riku comforted, smiling. "You should go out there-find some friends who understand you." I nodded in agreement.

"Oh no… My master forbids it. I'm not to set foot outside." Quasimodo said.

"Are you sure that's what's stopping you? Because I think something else is holding you back." Riku said. Quasimodo started walking towards the stairs. "Ask your heart, Quasimodo." He stopped. "And you will find the courage and strength to be accepted," I said.

"We'll check the edge of town. Thanks." Riku said. We walked back to the entrance. "Wish I could take my own advice," Riku mumbled.

"Same here," I said. Smiling at each other.

* * *

We reached a bridge that crossed to the other side, but suddenly a shadow passed over us. It was a large Dream Eater with wings similar to the Nightmare we fought in Traverse Town. It took on the shape of a Gargoyle like to ones at a church.

"A Dream Eater. And a big one." Riku stated.

"And this time it can fly." I agreed with my brother's statement. It flew to a tower and turned towards us, and started to shoot fireballs at us.

"What?" Riku asked in shock. We run out of the way as it hits a pile of wooden crates. It shoots another at us as we continue to run in the creature's direction.

We dodged more fireballs on our way across the bridge, knocking away smaller Nightmares and other obstacles in our path. We reached another part of town as the Wargoyle pursues him. In the outskirts of the city, Captain Phoebus has drawn his sword against Frollo as they stand outside a windmill.

"Stand aside, Captain Phoebus," Frollo ordered.

"I will not! What have these people done wrong?" Phoebus' voice questioned.

"I have proof this family gave harbour to gypsies!"

"That's not a crime."

"I can think of few crimes that are greater."

The Wargoyle flies toward them as it descended near Frollo. As he slowly walked towards it hand folded, pulsed with darkness.

"What demon is this?" Phoebus asked.

"Oh, you are mistaken, Captain Phoebus. This is no demon. It is righteous judgment! I have been granted this power so that I may smite all gypsies now and forever!" Frollo declared.

"This is wrong!" Phoebus yelled.

"He won't listen. Once you've fallen that far, there's almost no coming back." Riku said.

"How dare you. I am a virtuous man. Good and evil shall be made plain…once the gypsies face the fires of judgment." Frollo declared. He walks away, quietly laughing to himself. The Wargoyle follows, but Phoebus runs ahead of the creature.

"No, you don't" Phoebus yelled. The Dream Eater spins and tackles the Captain, knocking him to the ground. We ran over to Phoebus, who is holding his arm in pain.

"You all right?" Riku asked.

"Well, I can't say you two didn't warn me," Phoebus replied.

"You should take it easy. We'll deal with Frollo."

"Thanks. I gotta tell you, this is embarrassing-having to rely on two kids."

"You wouldn't be the first. Sorry."

"I'll admit, you look more capable than me right now. All right, be careful. It looks like that creature…is heading for the cathedral."

We arrived in the city, to see the buildings and homes in flames. I was horrified to see the destruction that Frollo caused, all because of how he wanted to liquidate every single Gypsy. What kind of a man believes that murder an entire race is just?

* * *

We ran into the square, seeing the bonfire has continued burning as Quasimodo holds Esmeralda, who is breathing heavily.

"Is she going to be all right?" Riku asked.

"I'm fine, thanks to Quasimodo," Esmerelda replied.

"Quasimodo, where did the creature go?" Riku asked him.

"It's…it's up there," Quasimodo replied looking up towards Notre Dame.

"Right. Let's go Arun!" Riku said. I nodded in response.

"W-wait. Wait, I'll go with you two!" Quasimodo yelled.

"Thanks, but stay with her," Riku said. Before we entered the cathedral, Riku asked Quasimodo. "Quasimodo, did your heart have the answer?" Quasimodo nodded as a sign of agreement.

When we went through we were greeted by a Nightmare Dream Eater, before being vanquished by three living gargoyles.

"Well! I guess…you three got this covered." Riku said.

"It was a walk in the park!" The first one said.

"How would you know? You don't have any legs." The second one pointed out.

"Yeah, but- Aw, gimme a break! It's just a figure of speech!" The first one sighed.

"Both of you, pipe down. And get ready! 'Cause here comes some more!" The third one yelled.

* * *

As we reached the top of the stairs, we saw Frollo standing on the edge of the parapet. Frollo stared at the city, burning with fire and ash.

"Yes! Let it burn. The flames will consume everything!" Frollo yelled. His genocidal hatred had finally consumed him driving him insane and destructive. "You see? This is the power that has been granted to me!"

"I see a sad old man with a dark heart," Riku said.

"This not justice! This is savagery!" I yelled at Frollo.

"Again, you are both wrong! Now you will be judged, just like the rest!" Frollo yelled. The Wargoyle appeared and flew up to the tower, knocking Frollo from the parapet. He drops the sword in his hand as he falls toward the burning square below.

"Judgement is might!" Frollo yelled as he fell or burn to his death. I almost lowered my guard when I heard footsteps nearby, I turned to see who it was. It was Xehanort's Heartless, Ansem, the man who controlled my brother during Sora's first journey and the one who manipulated him to use darkness. I was horrified to see our greatest enemy appearing during our Mark of Mastery.

"You're Ansem! Why are you here?" Riku said. Ansem was with the same stranger we encountered Traverse Town.

"No. No, It can't be. We destroy you! You should be dead!" I hissed.

"Ah, but darkness is not easy to destroy. You should have known this before Arun." Ansem corrected. The Heartless of Xehanort picked the sword Frollo discarded. "Your best friend is never far."

"So sad. The cost of yielding of Darkness." Ansem said.

"You could write a book about that." Riku spat. Ansem pointed the sword at us.

"But I embraced the darkness-and unless you two hurry up and learn to do the same, your story will end just like his," Ansem said.

"Sorry. But we don't embrace evil." I replied.

"We walk the road to dawn!" We yelled in unison, summoning our Keyblades.

"Still afraid of the dark, I see." The cloaked stranger said. A Corridor of Darkness appeared behind them, Ansem tossed the sword away as he and the stranger entered the corridor. Before they entered, Ansem smirked at us.

"Wait!" Riku yelled. Rushing towards the portal, but it closed.

"He thinks we're afraid of the dark? No, not while we have the Keyblade." We readied our fight against the Gargoyle Dream Eater. "It will guide us to the light!"

The updrafts from the fire abled us to be lifted in the air which gave us a close-range advantage against the Nightmare. Gargoyle-like Dream Eater began its medium-range attack by sending out dark diamond-shaped bullets at us, but we dodged against this attack and began our close-range assault on the winged Dream Eater. The Dream Eater retaliated with a twisted tackle, filled to the brim with fire. The Gargoyle started a series of attack using punches and tail swings, as we easily blocked these attack. The Dream Eater commenced the greatest attack it had: A barrage of large of fireballs from its arm-mounted Gatling guns. We took cover behind the two columns beside us. This gave us the chance to strike against the Dream Eater, we used two Blizzarga spells against the Dream Eater which weaken the Gargoyle. We jumped from the balcony as we inflicted two horizontal slashes in its wings and landed on the balcony, as we witness the Nightmare fall to its demise.

* * *

Later, the city returned to its peaceful nature, as we stood with Quasimodo, Esmeralda and Phoebus.

"Master Frollo-he made me live inside the bell tower, but the real walls were the ones I built around my heart. You helped me see that, both of you." Quasimodo said.

"We were…speaking from…personal experience."Riku replied.

"I'd say you still keep a lot locked inside," Phoebus said.

"We all do that sometimes. There are just some things we need to keep separate from the world at large, at least until we have time to figure them out." Esmerelda explained. She smiles at us, who nodded.

Later we enter the church, I saw that he was thinking of something. I guess he was thinking of Heartless Ansem.

"I know the road our heart walks," Riku said. A keyhole appears above the round glass window of the cathedral. We pointed our Keyblades at the Keyhole release a beam of light, sealing this world.

 **AN: Sorry about not updating this story for almost a month. I couldn't get my thoughts in place, anyway during my writing of Dreams Within the Heart I will explain Arun's role in the previous installments of Kingdom Hearts.**


	4. Prankster's Paradise

When I opened my eyes in the next world, I saw a lot of wooden debris that was in the water. I suppose this was a graveyard for ships but as I looked behind me, were a set of large sharp teeth. I realized where we were it was the stomach of Monstro! The same Whale that ate the Gummi Ship with me, Sora, Donald and Goofy on it during our first journey!

"Pinocchio!" A familiar voice rang out, causing us to look at an elderly man who was on a boat. "Son! Where have you run off to?"

"Isn't that…Geppetto? Then…this must be…" Riku trailed off.

"Yeah, it is. It's Monstro. Bring back memories, doesn't it?" I asked Riku.

"I guess it does," Riku remembered. It reminded of us of what happened last year when we fought against each other in other world's, due to me being angry at my own brother for not just working for Maleficent. But because of how he was envious of Sora, and that was the only thing I resented: my brother's jealousy. And so I fought fire with fire, I used the power of darkness through my rage to fight against my brother's dark jealousy, but this made me vulnerable to Ansem who took possession of our bodies and using us to try and steal Kairi's Heart.

But Sora managed to help us gain control of our bodies although he managed to free us from Ansem's control he sacrificed himself to free the heart of Kairi from his body.

We swam over to the boat to where Geppetto was as he was sitting on his bead, with his hand on his face.

"What the matter?" Riku asked him. Gepetto was startled by Riku in front of him.

"Huh? Goodness, who are you two?" Geppetto asked.

"Riku. This is Arun." Riku replied.

"Oh, Riku, Arun. You poor lads. Seems you two were swallowed up by Monstro just like the rest of us. My name is Geppetto, and I'm looking for my son, Pinocchio."

"Pinocchio's gone missing?" I asked.

"I'm afraid so. After all my searching, I found him here in the whale. But then he ran off again to who knows where." He replied.

"That sounds kind of…familiar. Mister Geppetto, let Arun and I go look for your son." Riku said.

"You would do that? Thank you. Are you sure?" Gepetto asked.

"Yeah. Leave it to us."

"Did ya say you were really going to help us find Pinocchio?" We turned to see Jiminy Cricket on a nearby table.

"Jiminy?" Riku asked.

"Huh? That's right-name's Jiminy! Jiminy Cricket. But shucks, have we met?" Jiminy asked.

"No-you know, never mind."

"Hmm, if you say so. Anyway, Pinocchio comes first."

"Right. Any idea where he went?"

"Well, I'm almost certain he wandered off with two strangers."

"Can you described them?"

"Hmm…I remember they were dressed in a black coat."

"A black coat? He's back again." Riku said.

"Everywhere we go, there's always a stranger in a black coat," I asked him. It was his turn to nod. Riku touched his heart and paused for a moment.

"Thanks," he said. We began our search for Pinocchio as Jiminy hops onto Riku's shoulder "Huh?"

"Well, I'm goin' with ya. Pinocchio's gonna need his conscience, and that's where I come in." Jiminy said.

As we search through Monstro's insides, we found Pinocchio walking with two hooded men.

"Pinocchio!" Jiminy called out. The boy turned around and saw them.

"Jiminy!" Pinocchio called out to his conscious.

"Let him go now!" Riku yelled.

"Right now! Jerkface!" I also yelled at the cloaked men. The hooded men face us and tap Pinocchio forward. The boy is confused for a moment and looks up at the figure, then runs to Jiminy, who hops to meet him.

"Thank goodness. Are you all right? Riku, Arun and I looked for ya everywhere." Jiminy said.

"Uh-huh. I'm just fine. Sorry, Jiminy. I messed up real bad. You and Father must have been so worried about me." Pinocchio said.

We walked over to the hooded figures as Riku said.

"Who are you two?" he interrogated

But instead of answer his question, they drew back their hood to reveal...us?! It was impossible! My doppelganger had the same hair and eye colour as my brother, could this version of me embraced his own darkness?

"You can't fool us! Show your real faced!" I snapped at our dark counterparts.

Our doubles ignored my angry request and summoned a Corridor of Darkness to escape through, closing the dark portal just as we began to run after ourselves. "As I live and breathe…" Jiminy remarked, "That was our…our dark sides. We gave into Darkness once and began trying to destroy each other." Riku explained. And ever since, it's chased us around in one form or another. The Seeker of Darkness who stole our bodies… puppet replica's of the shadows in our hearts… and now, we're facing us." I continued explaining. Your dark sides?" Jiminy asked, Pinocchio then walked up to us. "Gee, Riku, Arun don't you two have a Jiminy as I do?" the boy asked, "He's my conscience. He's taught me all kinds of important stuff. Maybe you just need somebody to show you what's right and wrong." He added before Jiminy jumped unto his shoulder. "Sure. You can't shoulder all your problems alone, ya know. You must have somebody, a friend you two can talk to?" he agreed. I guess that reminded us of Sora, our best friend with that silly grin on his face, he always had that on the Islands every day.

"Yeah…actually, we do. That stupid grin he's always wearing-he's the best teacher we could ever have." Riku answered.

"Gee whiz…I wish I had lots of good friends." Pinocchio said, sounding discouraging. "You will, Pinocchio. More than you can count." Jimminy cheered him up before the entire insides of Monstro began to shake.

"What now?" Riku wondered as he turned to see an opening not far from where we are.

"Is something in there? Pinocchio, Jiminy, you should head back. Riku and I will see what's shaking up." I ordered.

"Okay!" they nodded at the same time before running out of our eyesight.

We proceded to the opening in front of us leading us to the stomach of Monstro until a green blast shot right at us, we quickly skid on the ground to dodge the attack as the Nightmare jumped over us, which took the appearance of a crab. We summoned our Keyblade as the monster turns to face us. After landing different attacks and dodging the Nightmare's own, the Dream Eater was now defeated. Back in Monstro's mouth, Geppetto was finally reunited with his son as Pinocchio ran into his father's arms as we watched on.

"I thought we were only sent into the past on the Destiny Islands. So why does it seem like time was rewound in this world, too? Maybe it's like Master Yen Sid said-the world was freed from darkness but has yet to wake from it. It's trapped in a never-ending dream." Riku said. The Keyhole for this world had appeared in the air before we sealed it sending us into the next world.

 **AN: So sorry for taking so long to publish a new chapter, still have Writer's Block in my head. I'll try and do my best to publish new chapters quickly. If you are wonder why am I not publishing a chapter on Sora side of the story, it's because it would take too long for me to make chapters on Sora's side and it would be right after the release of KHIII.**


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